MOAS has raised enough money for its May-November rescue effort. It claims public support for the charity has rocketed in recent weeks, with 1.5 million euros being donated in the last month alone.

But the charity, whose operation costs around 500,000 euros a month to run, is now asking for more donations to keep its rescue mission going beyond November.

Mr Catrambone said: “As UNHCR said in a recent report, MOAS and several other private and state-run ships who responded to the crisis have contributed to a significant drop in the death toll.

“The reality is that there are never enough assets at sea but public pressure is vital for European countries to keep saving lives at sea at the top of their agendas. Donations to MOAS and other NGOs help maintain this public pressure and stresses that citizens are not willing to remain bystanders.

“When we started MOAS we had faith that the global community will be inspired to respond to this humanitarian crisis of historic proportions. We created an innovative direct response which the public could support and help finance. Now people have joined our call that nobody deserves to die at sea.”